Seven Minutes in Hogwart's Heaven
by KittysBear
Summary: Ron and Hermione meet up after the war is over. Will things between them heat up or is all hope of them ever being together lost? Rated M for potential lemons.
1. Chapter 1

As light flitted through her window in narrow streams, Hermione Granger awoke well rested for the first time in a good long time. No longer did she need to live in fear of Lord Voldemort for she had helped her friend Harry Potter topple him. That hadn't stopped the vile nightmares she'd had forcing her to wake screaming in the night. Luckily, since Voldemort was defeated she'd been able to lift the memory charm on her parents and bring them back from Australia and they had been there to comfort her even if they didn't truly understand the horrors she saw at night.

But now was now. She hadn't had a nightmare in a couple of months and through occlumancy had the power to shield herself from seeing all the nastiness that she'd witnessed, only letting it in when necessary. She decided to go back to Hogwarts and finish her education even though everyone had said there was no need. They had negotiated to the point where she got to take her N.E.W.T.S. at that moment and, unsurprisingly, passed with the highest score in almost a century; just two N.E.W.T.S. shy of Dumbledore himself.

Her former partners in crime though, that was a different story. Both Harry and their mutual friend Ron Weasley had gone directly into service at the Ministry of Magic as aurors. Defeating the most powerful dark wizard of all time when just barely of age, apparently, helps pad your resume. It also came with a price. Harry had adapted well and was rumored to be in line for promotion to head auror. He had learned to think like his enemies and used it to his advantage. He mentioned once that it had something to do with what Dumbledore said about, "It is not how you are alike, but how you are different." Ron, on the other hand, was still a bumbling idiot and survived mainly on luck and better wizards.

To be fair, Ron had a hard war. Not only did he endure all the same things Harry and Hermione had, but he'd also lost a brother in The Battle of Hogwarts and just eighteen months before that had seen his father suffer from a snake attack at the Ministry. A few years before THAT his sister Ginny had been possessed by the spirit of Lord Voldemort himself and managed to free a basilisk before almost having her life drained. The terrors didn't end there, and while Hermione had shared a passionate kiss with Ron in the Chamber of Secrets during their last battle, he'd become withdrawn and didn't let anyone near. It was a surprise to her, then, that the coin she'd used when all three had been founding members of Dumbledore's Army glowed white hot with a message from Ron.

"Meet me at The Three Broomsticks tomorrow at 1. Please?"

Even though the message was only text, it still sounded like he was begging. She'd decided in their first year that she would always do what was necessary to help either Ron or Harry, even if she didn't like begging. There was another part of her that was torn: her heart. Seeing Ron again could lead to many things and aside from his exploits at the Ministry she had no clue how his life was. Did he have a girlfriend or wife? Would the meeting revive their friendship or destroy her utterly?

Hermione reached deep down inside herself summoning all the courage that had made her a Gryffindor in the first place, and sent her reply:

"Yes."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning when she awoke Hermione wasn't quite as enthralled as she might have been normally. Going to Hogsmeade was usually a fun experience, but she was going into a meeting with a man she had at one point absolutely loved about and she had no clue what the topic was. She decided that utilitarian dress would be best. Dressing up was uncalled for, but looking frumpy would only put out the I'm not interested vibe. While Ron was rather dense at reading people, others might see it and wonder what was going on. She opted for a pair of jeans that accentuated her very pleasant curves, but still were loose enough to allow things to be stowed in her pockets. She donned a camisole and a Weird Sister's t-shirt then slipped into her favorite pink hoodie. At 12:55 she took two steps outside of the house and looked around. Seeing no one anywhere close, she turned on the spot and with a faint pop disappeared.

Almost immediately she landed right outside The Three Broomsticks. On the crisp air she could smell Rosemerta's famous mead being served in probably very copious amounts. While she was focused on the scent and the feeling of fall in the air, Ron sidled up along side her and put his hand on her shoulder. The speed with which she drew her wand almost broke the laws of physics. The spell she chose to blast Ron with DID break his hold on her shoulder… and maybe a rib or two. Rictusempra was nice for tummy tickles when you were a second year and didn't know how to power a spell, but when you knew what you were doing, it could pack quite a wallop.

Ron had to fight to disentangle himself from his cloak, muttering curses the entire time. "Why, in the name of Merlin's most baggy y-fronts, did you do that?" he half asked, half yelled. Wincing, he touched his sore ribs. He sighed and lifted his shirt revealing a set of abs that Hermione was pretty sure he hadn't had the last time she'd seen him. She looked away feigning modesty and blushed just a little. Ron apparently had drawn his wand because she heard him say, "Episkey" after which he groaned in pain and she heard three loud clicks as a trio of ribs set themselves.

Hermione turned back to face Ron again. "Well, if YOU hadn't startled me I wouldn't have had to do that!" Two minutes into this little adventure and already she was starting to regret saying she'd meet him. "Sorry," Ron muttered. Should we go inside and talk? With a sigh, Hermione followed him into the pub. "At least", she thought, "he has learned some minor healing spells."

As both of them sat down to have their drinks Ron fessed up. "I need help. Probably not a surprise to you."

Hermione nodded and asked, "Why do you need my help? Obviously it's not school related."

Ron replied, "It kind of is. My proficiency exam is next week. Harry likes me, don't get me wrong, but he also needs to be fair and honest in his assessment of me, and, well, I don't think I'm gonna make it."

Rosemerta came to take their orders. Ron opted for a firewhiskey, his favorite drink, and some of the famous mead. Hermione settled on butterbeer. Sure, it wasn't intoxicating, unless you were a house elf, but it could certainly chase away lingering chills and that was intoxication enough today. Besides, if Ron was planning on drinking more than that she'd need to keep her head clear to make sure studying could be done. "Oh this isn't like school at all," she thought to herself as she internally rolled her eyes.

"What areas do you need help in… obviously not stealth." The acknowledgement seemed to take Ron by surprise and even caused a small smile to appear on his face. It soon faded. "Fair fighting is okay, but those are rare. I'm completely dreadful at potions. I can't blame Snape for all those times he got on me about them. I also am having some trouble with disguises and transfiguration in general. Last week Madame McGonogall showed up at work to visit with Kingsley and had reason to give me her look of disapproval at one of my spells."

Hermione knew that look from having seen it leveled at other students before. It was powerful in and of itself. She knew that helping Ron was necessary now more than it ever had been in school. "I'll help you. However, I'm not half the teacher that any of our teachers were so we will have to see how this goes. I'll set it up with Headmistress Sinistra so that we have access to a classroom tonight. Meet me in the entrance hall tonight at 7:00."

Ron simply smiled knowing that with Hermione's help on his side he would make it. He still admired the way her cheeks flushed and the overall quality of her voice when she was being stern with him. "Are you listening Ron!?" she yelled. Ron just kept smiling.

Hermione took her butterbeer and headed towards the school leaving Ron sitting in the pub seemingly staring blankly into space. She had lots to do before seven rolled around, including calming her nerves. She made a note to stop by and see Madame Pomfrey in the school's infirmary to get a calming tonic.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione made her way to the school and spoke with Headmistress Sinistra and Madame Pomfrey. She talked briefly with the rather portly Horace Slughorn who had, since their first meeting, considered Hermione to be one of his prize students. When she mentioned that she had to get going home to prepare for the work with Ron, Slughorn made her laugh by asking her to, "Say hello to Wallenbee for me."

Hermione then popped home quickly to clean up and choose which books she should take with her for their first lesson. She settled on a few basic books, placed them in her bag that would have made Mary Poppins jealous, and popped back to Hogsmeade, making it to the entrance hall just a few minutes before seven.

Twenty minutes later Ron finally arrived. He wasn't as snockered as Hermione thought he'd be. In fact he seemed almost completely normal. She had seriously thought about leaving at 7:05, but had decided she wouldn't feel right. After all, she'd promised, and she was used to Ron being late. Hell, on their first date… she decided not to go there. Too much pain.

Together Ron and Hermione walked up the stairs to a classroom on the second floor not far from their old Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. There was a cauldron on the bare stone floor and it was already set at a simmer. "I thought we'd start with a very basic girding potion to help you out. As you get better we can increase the difficulty of the potions." She handed him a beginner's potions book and had him turn to the girding potion. Ron read through the potion ingredients measuring them out carefully under Hermione's very watchful eye. He was about to add an ingredient when Peeves came swooping in to the room.

"OOOOOOOOOOH, look at the auror and his ickle girlfriend! What are you making, love potion I think. Tell Filch I should." Before Hermione could stop him Ron jumped up and pointed his wand at Peeves and sent a jet of red light his way. The stunning spell wouldn't have done any good, but it got Peeves' attention. "We have permission from the headmistress," hissed Ron, "so you can just bugger off you pesky, nasty, waste of an afterlife!"

Ron turned back to Hermione smiling, "Just like old ti…" He quickly closed his mouth when he saw what was happening. The cauldron had spilt on the floor and the half finished potion had spilled out of it. In its unfinished state the potion may have been useless as a girding potion, but it was a very, very good corrosive. It had spilled on the top half of Hermione's pants and the bottom half of her t-shirt. Ron sighed, "This is why I need help." He pointed his wand at her and started an incantation. Hermione, able to put two and two together yelled for him to stop, but Ron had already finished. There was a flash of yellow light as the word left his lips. "Tergio!" He'd bellowed. The spell hit Hermione right where the potion had caught her and only exacerbated the effect, completely disintegrating her jeans and t-shirt leaving her standing there in her matching red satin bra and panties.

Hermione spun and saw her wand lying on the floor safely away from the potion puddle. She was reaching for it when Ron yelled, "Impedimentia!" Hermione leveled a gaze on Ron that would have made McGonogall ask for pointers. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, what the HELL have you done with my clothes? It's freezing in here!" Ron looked down at Hermione's little body and noticed how shapely it was and that she was telling the truth about the temperature. The little bumps forming right in the middle of the shiny fabric of Hermione's bra spoke to that. Ron noticed that those were not the only fabric bulges going on in the room as he felt his pants tighten a bit just below his waist.

"RON!" Hermione yelled. Ron snapped out of it. He took his cloak off and walked over to Hermione draping the fabric over her while muttering his apologies. He reached down, and even though he knew he was endangering himself by doing it, he gave Hermione her wand back. For the second time that day Ron went flying away from Hermione. This time he didn't bother healing himself. He just picked himself up, and dusted himself off. Hermione threw another hex at him, but Ron deflected it with a shield charm and marched towards her. The hexes kept coming and kept being deflected. Finally having enough Ron mumbled, "experillarmus" and watched as Hermione's wand flew out of her hand. He closed the distance between them and as he did so Hermione started throwing punches and kicks at him and he saw the tears streaming down her face.

"You contact me out of the blue because you need help." She stammered. "You then proceed to not pay attention to what you're doing and make me lose my clothes. Then you keep me from getting to my wand, and then you humiliate me by taking my wand away. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?"

Ron just stood there listening and watching her cry. He decided not to open his mouth, but instead wrap his arms around her. She fought and fought and, finally exhausted, she just slunk against Ron. "Don't you know how much you hurt me Ron?" she asked. "You have seven years to make a move. I could understand not moving in the first couple of years, I mean, we were young. But you didn't ask me to the Yule Ball in fourth year, you completely disregarded me in sixth year for Lavender Brown, and then get jealous of Harry when we were out looking for horcruxes, even though it was only you I ever wanted. Then you kiss me passionately down in the chamber and then leave me hanging for over a year! And now, despite it all, I'm here again, even though it's breaking my heart. So I ask again, what do you want from me?"

Ron lifted her chin and looked her in the eyes. "I… I didn't know you felt that way. I didn't mean to mess you around. I…" He'd begun crying too. "I've seen so much pain and felt it too. I just couldn't let you near because I knew it would bring me even more pain if you were taken from me too." Hermione pushed him away a little and wiped her eyes, "Well you've caused me a tremendous amount of pain and I don't know…" Her thought was interrupted as Ron's lips found hers and applied a soft, but pleasing pressure. The torrent of emotion that had been coursing through her as agony began to melt away and a new sensation began to flood through her; one of a shared history with Ron and a love deeper than she'd ever known. He pulled away a moment later, and took a step back keeping his mouth shut and leaving Hermione speechless. They both stood there for a moment not sure what was going to happen. Hermione had noticed the temperature in the room had gone up a couple of degrees at least, and also noticed that her bra was feeling a little more snug than usual. She took two steps over, wrapped one hand in Ron's t-shirt, pulling him down to her level, and then wrapped the other in his hair. She then proceeded to kiss him deeper than she'd ever thought possible. The only thoughts on her mind were the taste of his lips and the feeling of his manhood starting to press insistently against her bare skin through the fabric of his pants just a few inches higher than where she now realized she wanted it to be.


End file.
